Rep. Norwood's Posthumous Campaign Party

The campaign of the late congressman Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.) treated his supporters to a $63,000 thank-you weekend at a golf resort two months after he died -- the same day that the candidate endorsed by Norwood's family held a fundraiser at the same resort, reports and interviews show.

Norwood officials said that the events were unrelated, and that the spending did not benefit the campaign of former state senator Jim Whitehead. Whitehead was widely considered the front-runner to replace Norwood as the congressman from Georgia's 10th District, but he lost last week's runoff election to fellow Republican Paul Broun by 394 votes. Georgia's secretary of state certified the result yesterday.

Norwood had more than $700,000 in his campaign account when he died Feb. 13. Federal law allows a variety of uses for the money, including donations to charities, but limits contributions to political parties or campaigns.

Norwood's campaign finance reports show two expenditures, on April 20 and May 17, totaling $63,200 to the Ritz-Carlton Lodge in Greensboro, Ga.

The Whitehead campaign held a fundraising reception April 20 at the same resort.

Amelia Brown, a campaign manager paid by both the Whitehead and Norwood committees in recent months, said the hotel would not cancel the reservation for a fundraiser, made the year before Norwood died.

The hotel denied that but declined to discuss it further, citing client confidentiality. Norwood campaign officials would not authorize the hotel to release more information and would not provide attendance lists for each event.

Brown said that instead of letting the rooms sit empty, the Norwood campaign invited longtime friends and supporters to stay at the resort for the April 20 weekend as a gesture of thanks.

The supporters who accepted the Norwood offer did not attend the Whitehead reception or donate money to the Whitehead campaign, Brown said.

The Whitehead campaign paid for its reception with its own money, Brown said, pointing to a $2,275.75 expenditure to the Ritz-Carlton on May 17, which she said covered the cost of renting the resort's 5,400-square-foot Presidential House for the reception.